The Fighter
by lemonygoodness1998
Summary: Andi is a smart, sarcastic, headstrong princess who refuses to be forced into an arranged marriage, so she sneaks out of the palace once and for all. Corporal Levi is out for a midnight ride on his horse. When their worlds collide, what will win - their love or their worlds? Assuming they don't kill each other first.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Andi's POV

"Princess, time to wake up!" a gentle voice cooed from the other side of the door. I quickly slid the pad and pen I had been writing with under my bed and flopped under the covers, pinching out the candle in the process. It had been another long night of writing for me, but I wasn't the least bit tired. I was invigorated. But if anyone knew that Wall Sina's only princess got little to no sleep because of fictional characters I would be severely punished.

The maid entered my room to see nothing but a bundle of sheets. I heard a chuckle.

"How can you sleep like that, Princess?" she asked lightly. I groaned and rolled over, trying to make myself appear sleepy.

"It's comfortable," I yawned as I stretched my back. The maid, Caroline, giggled again and held out my robe, waiting for me to stand and slip my arms through it. I complied and slipped on a pair of warm socks.

"So, Caroline," I asked. "What's on the agenda today?"

"Well," she began, "you have your archery and sewing lessons this morning, then lunch with a suitor-"

"Ugh!" I groaned and laid back down with a great plop. "Not another suitor. I hate people."

"After lunch," she continued, "you have French and Japanese, then dinner with-" she paused.

"Let me guess," I scoffed. "Another suitor?"

"That would be correct milady. But, unlike most days, you will have a meeting with your parents after supper."

I groaned again. The only reason my mother and step-father could possibly want to meet with me would be to discuss plans for a party or my coming of age or – I suppressed a shudder at the thought – marriage. I hoped to whatever god there was that it wasn't the last option.

I helped Caroline make my bed and tidy my room before going down to breakfast, where I was presented with too much food for my liking, so I shared it with Caroline. Archery and sewing went well, though I did enjoy archery much more than sewing another handkerchief. The lunch was actually enjoyable for once – the suitor was sickened by my cynicism within the first ten minutes and left me alone with my food. French and Japanese were easy as always, as I was already fluent, and dinner was... interesting. It ended with a biscuit crumbled over the suitor's head after he made his twelfth misogynistic remark of the night. All day I dreaded the meeting with my mother and step-father, and I dreaded it even more as I walked down the hallway to the throne room.

I pushed in the left door and strode down the middle of the room with stupidly good posture which was exceedingly unlike myself. When I reached my parent and step-parent, I bowed slightly and stood before them.

"You requested you see me, Mother and... Father?" I nearly choked on the last word. My step-father – Gerard – smirked slightly at the sound.

"Yes, we did, Andrea," my mother smiled happily at me. I was told I looked exactly like my mother, with dark brown hair and light eyes, but I always thought I looked more like my father.

"As you know, you are coming of age soon," Gerard said in what I prayed wasn't a malicious manner.

"Your sixteenth birthday is approaching in less than a month," my mother continued.

"I am fully aware, Mother," I gritted through a fake smile. This was going to be about marriage. I was certain.

"Well, upon a royalty's coming-of-age, the former king and queen are obligated to retire," Gerard said with what was unmistakable malice. "And a princess cannot take the throne without a husband-"

There it was.

"So we have arranged for you to marry the son of a wealthy merchant within Wall Sina," my mother concluded. "You are to be married the day before your birthday."

I felt like crying. More than that, I felt like hitting something.

"Will that be all, Mother and Father?" I choked on the whole thing this time.

"Yes, sweetheart," Gerard mocked. My mother was clueless as to the animosity between Gerard and I. In her mind, I thought of Gerard as a second father; nothing could be farther from the truth. Gerard was a piece of shit who mocked me every chance he got. He made my life hell, and I knew he would do absolutely anything to stay in power. I was honestly afraid for my mother. Why she married him I never knew.

I nodded, bowed, and turned on my heel and exited the throne room. Caroline was waiting for me outside the doors.

"What did they want, Princess?" she asked me. After nearly two years of being my maid, she couldn't understand that I liked to be called "Andi," not "Princess."

"I'm getting married," I quipped without looking at her. The excitement in her voice was unmistakable.

"Married!" she exclaimed. "How wonderful! Who is the lucky gentleman?"

"I don't know," I whispered hoarsely. I still couldn't bear to look at her face; I knew it would be alight with all the excitement and contentment that I didn't have.

"Well, I'm sure you'll meet him at tomorrow's ball," she smiled widely. I forced a small smile onto my mouth.

"I'm sure of it," I said. "But for now I'm going for a ride."

"A ride?" she questioned. "But it is nearly nine o'clock at night! Shouldn't you be getting to bed?"

I turned to her.

"Yes, a ride," I confirmed. "I don't need any help with tack or anything. I just need to get out for a little bit."

"Clear your head of all the giddiness, I expect!" she giggled again. "I'll inform the-"

"Please," I interrupted her. "Don't tell anyone. I need to do this alone." She nodded quickly and scurried off, obviously bubbling with happiness. There would be a marriage in the castle within a month's time, and I would be surrendering all my studies and all my freedom to a man whom I had never met. This was going to suck.

Unless...

I had to restrain myself from bounding up the stairs to my room. I violently pushed my door closed, then opened it to apologize for the noise, then shut it again, and slid my notebook and pen from under my bed. I fished a rucksack which I had made from my closet and stuffed it with the least ornate dress I could find, then with a hairbrush and extra pen and two ribbons. Lastly I packed a pair of town shoes and pulled the rucksack's strings closed. Then I yanked free a sheet of creamy paper from the back of my notebook and began to write.

Dear Mother and Gerard,

I can't do it. I don't know where I'll go, or how long I'll be gone, but I can't stay here and marry a man I hardly know. Don't worry about me. The archery and fencing lessons have taught me well. I can take care of myself. I love you, mother. I'm so sorry.

Love,

Andrea

I left the note on my pillow, shoved the pen and notebook into the rucksack, and changed into my favorite clothes: black riding pants, a simple black long-sleeved shirt a black cloak, and black military boots with thick soles and laces. Finally, I strapped a knife holster to my belt and tucked a cold steel tactical knife into the pouch, then slipped the rucksack over my shoulders and left the room.

When I arrived at the stables, I tacked up my favorite horse, a jet black gelding named Thunderbolt, and combed out his tangled tail. Just as I was about to trim the ragged bottom, an idea came to me.

I pulled all of my long hair to one side and, after a moment's hesitation, snipped it to my shoulders. I wrapped it in one of my ribbons and tossed it into the nearest well before coming back to Thunderbolt and mounting him.

The night was the clearest night I had seen in a long time, and the clearest one I had ever been out on. I quite frequently snuck out of the palace to wander the streets of the capitol, but I'd never once thought of not coming back hom-

I struggled to even think of that prison as home anymore.

I dug my heels into Thunderbolt's stomach and clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth and the horse took off at a gallop. The wind whipped through my newly-cut hair as we weaved through the trees of the palace's back forest. I knew the forest ran straight into Wall Sina, but I didn't care. I'd scale that wall with Thunderbolt on my back if I had to. Anything to get out of that place.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Levi's POV

I couldn't sleep. It was so damn hot in HQ and I was so tired that I couldn't sleep. A hot shower, a stolen crust of bread, a change of position in my bed – nothing helped. The only thing I could think to do was go for I ride, so I snuck out of the castle at around ten o'clock and headed to the stables. Once I tacked up I sat atop a white horse and took off.

It was the clearest night I had seen in a long time, clear enough to see the very tops of the big-ass trees that made up the forest through which I galloped. I pulled my left reign and dodged a tree, glad to feel the cold air weaving through my hair.

Before I could feel much relief to my insomnia I heard a second set of hoofbeats coming up behind me. Turning, I saw nothing.

_It's just the wind or something. Nothing to get worked up over._

But the sound didn't disappear; in fact, it got louder with every passing second. Somebody was coming up behind me, and they weren't giving up.

I turned my head again, but this time I saw something. A pitch black horse with a pitch black rider was whipping through the trees like it was an agility course.

"Hey, you!" I called. The hooded figure looked back briefly, then wheeled around to travel east, just left of HQ. "Tch," I scoffed as I accelerated the horse and chased the intruding rider.

We must have ridden for over half an hour before I finally caught up with the duo.

"Just give up!" I shouted. If anything, that seemed to spur the rider to push the horse faster. I rolled my eyes and dug my heels into the sides of my horse, urging him to move faster.

The chase lasted for another minute until their horse stumbled. Taking advantage of the momentary loss of speed, I knocked the rider from their perch, and leapt from my horse. Holding a knife to the intruder's throat, I had pinned them securely against the trunk of one of the forest's trees. The night was dark enough that I couldn't make out the rider's face, and their cloak covered their face well enough that I wouldn't have been able to see it in the daylight.

"State your name and business," I growled and pressed the knife harder into their neck.

"I'm just passing through," they said. They sounded young, young enough to be a Cadet. But no Cadet had access to a horse that fast or riding skills that advanced.

"Passing through, my ass," I said.

"No, I believe this is a forest," they snickered. The knife dug deeper into the cloak around their neck.

"Do you really think this is a time for jokes, brat?" I barked. "You are trespassing on government property, and I have every right to kill you right here, right now."

"But you wouldn't," they said automatically.

"And why not?" I growled.

"You're too curious," they said.

They swept their leg under mine and knocked me off balance and swung at my face, but I countered by striking at their head with the raised leg. I felt a hand around my foot and something cold against my ankle. They had taken out a knife and held it to the back of my leg.

"Let me go or I cut your Achilles," they threatened menacingly.

"No way in hell," I grunted and kicked my leg higher and out of their grip. Spinning, I nearly landed a roundhouse to their head. The force of dodging my attack, however, made them lose their balance; I used the opportunity to tackle them to the ground.

"Who are you?" I demanded as I pressed the intruder firmly into the mulch of the forest floor. They flipped me over so they were on top. The night was still too dark to make out any distinct facial features, but I thought I could tell they had blue eyes.

"There's that curiosity I was talking about," they said with an audibly sarcastic smirk. I flipped them back over.

"Don't pull any smart moves," I ordered. They ignored me as they, miraculously, flipped us again and held the knife to my throat.

The mood, though it had been serious before, lost all traces of jocularity.

"I won't hesitate," they said coolly. "Let me go. I'm just passing through."

"If you're just passing through, why are you so afraid of a government officer? It's not illegal to come across if you're here for less than an hour and you don't steal anything." They faltered. "I thought so." I flung the hand clutching the knife away and pushed them back to the ground. They wouldn't escape this time.

"I'm going to ask you one more time," I said. "Who are you and what do you really want?" They were silent. "Oi, brat! I'm talking to you!" It was then that I noticed a small trickle of blood oozing into the palm of my hand which was pressed against the brat's forehead. Looking past them I noticed that I had smacked their head straight into a sharp tree root. They would be out cold.

I took the opportunity to push back the figure's hood to see them for myself. What was behind the hood was surprising, to say the least.

The intruder was a young woman, no older that eighteen, with clean dark hair that was significantly longer on one side. Her pale skin glowed in the moonlight, thick lashes casting a shadow over her cheeks and closed eyelids. The finishing features were her full lips, slightly parted in unconsciousness, and her elegant collarbones exposed by her shirt.

As insolent as the brat was, I had to admit she was stunning.

I scooped her up by her knees and back and hefted her back to the castle in my arms. I would find the horses later. The important thing was making sure the intruder didn't escape.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Andi's POV

When I woke up I was in a dungeon.

It's not like I wasn't used to it; placing me in the palace's dungeon for days on end had been one of Gerard's favorite pastimes for the past several years. But this was slightly cleaner than the hole at... not home. The walls, though still made of yellow stone, did not have any climbing green fungus sprouting from the mortar; the floor, though still dingy, wasn't damp; and, instead of a mat in the corner, I had woken up lying on a semi-comfortable cot that was shoved up against the wall. There was even a pillow. It was a far cry from my normal bedroom, but it was better than sleeping in a tree.

Speaking of trees, how did I even get out of the forest? One moment I had been grappling with the Lance Corporal and the next I was here with a nasty headache. He wouldn't have -

The sudden sound of creaky metal-on-metal hinges shook me from my contemplation. Heavy footsteps followed by lighter ones bumped against the floor. They were getting louder, coming closer.

Eventually two men came to a stop in front of the barred cell in which I sat. One was a tall blonde man with bushy eyebrows, the other the Lance Corporal from the previous night. He was significantly shorter than he had appeared when we fought.

"So, you're the trespasser from last night," the tall man commented. I nodded hesitantly. "You not only trespassed on government property, but you have also threatened the life and well-being of an officer and, more importantly, compromised the location of the Survey Corps headquarters. Were you aware of this?"

Of course I was aware that it was a crime to trespass and that the locations of military bases were to remain secret – I was the daughter of the law! But I had no idea that I had actually been on the Survey Corps' land.

I shook my head again. "No, sir. I was not aware that I was on government property." He looked down at his feet for a moment.

"The only choices you have given us are to hold you prisoner here, execute you," he paused, "or enlist you into the Survey Corps."

I froze. I had never been content in the castle, merely reading and writing about the adventures that went on outside of Wall Sina. As a small child I had wanted to join the Military Police because that was the only branch of the military I was familiar with; later, I wanted to enlist in the Garrison. But I had never even considered the Survey Corps. The danger of venturing outside the walls had always terrified me; though I may have been dissatisfied with being kept in the palace for the rest of my days, I had been perfectly content with staying inside the walls. But now... the temptation was strong.

"I am assuming someone with such a strong survival instinct would rule out execution," he continued, "so which will it be? Imprisonment or enlistment?"

I gulped. "Are they the same thing here, sir?" I asked. The tall man laughed lightly while the Lance Corporal made a condescending "tch" sound, but I could have sworn I saw him give some semblance of a smirk.

"I don't know how it would be for you," the tall man stated with the dregs of a smile, "but, for those who enlist, it's freeing."

Freedom...

"I'd like to enlist, sir."

Something changed about their demeanors. They seemed to have a certain glow of pride and satisfaction about them as I gave them my answer. I hoped I would beam in the same way one day.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Levi's POV

"What's the matter, brat? Give up yet?" I asked. I pinned her to the muddy ground with my foot as she tried to make it through an obstacle course set up for conditioning the Cadets. It was raining hard enough that the reddish dirt had turned almost completely to water; Andi, as I learned she was called, was nearly indistinguishable from the ground.

"Never," she growled menacingly. I was slightly surprised. Most new recruits didn't make it this far through the course, and none of their voices ever managed to send a shiver down my spine like hers did. As much as I hated to admit it, she was fairly intimidating; how, other than the voice, I couldn't put my finger on.

She pulled her elbows from under her and began to drag herself towards the next portion of the course – a running track. I pressed my foot down on her back a little harder, making it nearly impossible to push herself more than an inch forward per pull.

"How about now?" Before she could answer she was interrupted by a familiar pattern of hoof beats. Thump thump-thump. Thump thump-thump. Thump thump-thump. She turned her head back to face me, a smug smile curving her lips on one side. She whistled loudly.

"Not just yet," she said. A sopping wet horse came galloping out of the woods and onto the obstacle course, stopping just in front of us. Andi managed to roll from under my foot and leap on to her horse. She stared down at me from atop the horse that seemed much too tall for her. "There's always a loophole, my good sir," she quipped with a smirk and loped away, being sure to stay on the grass to avoid the slippery dirt.

I slicked the water from my bangs and began the trek to the finish line. That brat was lucky that horse had been around. I was prepared to grind her face into the mud until she nearly passed out.

When I made it to the finish line she was sitting atop that too-tall horse with her elbows against its neck, waiting for me.

"'Bout time you showed up, Corporal." That girl was going to lose a limb by my hand.

After she had enlisted two days earlier I had protested heavily with Erwin. It wasn't that she was incompetent; far from it, she had nearly cost me my leg and my life two nights earlier. But I knew, I knew, she would have a problem with authority, and this problem was manifested in bitter sarcasm.

"Is that little scratch on your Achilles' getting to you?"

I was going to kill her in her sleep.

Two hours later she was still running laps around the field with stable duty newly assigned to her. I was impressed that she hadn't thrown up yet, but I still wanted to see her break; and by the way she was stumbling over the grass I could tell that was going to happen soon.

"Oi, brat!" I called. I could see that indignant expression from across the field. "You've been at this for five hours now. Give up."

She glared at me and tried to keep running, but a tuft of grass found its way to the toe of her left boot and sent her sprawling to the ground. When I got to her she was still struggling to move.

"All the other Cadets are done for the day. What about you? Are you going to pull yourself along like a piece of toilet paper on the bottom of a shoe or are you going to give up?"

"I'm not giving up. Sir." She added the "sir" as an afterthought. I couldn't tell if it was sincere or sarcastic, so I kicked her in the side. She collapsed onto the muddy ground and panted heavily. I crouched by her pathetic form.

"Let this be a lesson to you," I murmured through the rain. "Not everything is worth fighting for. This was an exercise in endurance, not a real expedition. You have to learn to pick your battles. That's something I'd rather my troops learn here than out in the field when their being forced to forfeit their lives for some stupid side-quest." I stood. Her shoulders had slumped and she was completely covered in that brown water-mud; the only parts of her untouched by the mess were her piercing blue eyes that looked up at me with a mixture of exhaustion, determination, and hatred. I turned to the pair of Cadets that had been watching the exercise and told them to help her to the dungeon shower.

"Sir," Arlert began. She pointed behind me and I turned my head over my shoulder.

She looked like some kind of wounded animal, but Andi was getting up again. She stood, back hunched, fists balled. Limping up to me, she glanced hard in my direction before trudging to the external entrance to the dungeons.

I had to hand it to her. She may not have been able to withstand everything I was prepared to dish out, but she was still the toughest person I had come across in quite a while.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

One Week Later

Andi's POV

I had stable duty. Again.

I had consistently opened my stupid sarcastic mouth and, every day, said something to the Corporal (I soon learned his name was Levi) that got me stable duty. Not that I minded the work; what I minded about getting stable duty was that blank look on Corporal Levi's face as I offhandedly insulted him. It was terrible because I knew, no matter how insignificant I may have been in his mind, I hurt him somewhat. He didn't seem like one to have a big or strong ego.

Now in the stable, I grabbed a manure fork and got to work mucking the stalls. I hadn't been the best at it to begin with, but I soon became an expert thanks to my smart mouth. I speared up half a pile of horse shit and dumped it through the bars of the stall and into the wheelbarrow.

As gross as stable duty was, I did find it relaxing. I got the chance to be alone with the horses and my thoughts. I ran through the plot of the novel I was writing several times before I finished with the stall and moved on to the next. Suddenly, a gaseous rip and noxious gas tore through the air, followed by several plops.

"Gallagher!" I yelled at the horse. He looked back at me and released one final load as if his sole purpose in life was to spite me. I sighed and reentered the stall with a curse.

"I didn't know pieces of shit could produce more pieces of shit, Gallagher," I muttered. He whinnied. "I don't need your sass, dickwad."

As I cleaned the rest of the stalls I hummed, talked to the horses, ran over my novel again, anything to get me through. But, between thoughts, suddenly noticed a pair of voices approaching the stable.

"I'm telling you, she's missing!" one said.

"They've never even released a photo of her and they expect us to find her? That's ridiculous!"

"They did offer that huge reward, though."

"Well, I suppose you'd expect that, her being the princess and all."

I froze mid-scoop.

So they had finally decided to look for me, eh? Word had finally gotten out that Sina's beloved princess was missing? I was surprised that Gerard had had the kindness to look for me; he would do anything to stay in power, and with me out of the picture that would be fairly easy to do. I thanked whatever god there was that my family had refused to show me to the world. The soldiers would be all over me, and there was absolutely no way I was going back. They were all superficial snobs with no ambitions back... not home.

The two voices turned out to be the guys I knew as Kirstein and Braun. I knew this because they walked into the stable.

"Well, hello there," Kirstein's voice cooed to my turned back as I finished scooping the pile. "I wasn't aware we were getting any new recruits. I'm Jean, and this is Reiner. We've also got stable duty today, miss."

"Sounds good," I grunted as I lifted a particularly heavy load. Hugh had huge dumps.

"That's it," Kirstein questioned with an incredulous laugh. "'Sounds good'? No name or age or hometown or stupid trivia?"

I turned.

"Okay then. My name is Andi, I'm nineteen years old, I'm from inside Wall Sina, and my favorite color is the exact shade of red as blood spilled onto the ground." I held the manure fork in front of me. "Would you like a demonstration?"

He shook his head, looking wide-eyed at the potential weapon in my hands.

"Then I suggest you get a manure fork and start mucking before I hand you this one by the shitty tines." He was obedient and Braun was lost in a fit of hysterical laughter. Then, as fate would have it, the demonic Corporal himself appeared in the doorway.

"Oi, brats. You heard the woman. Get to work," he ordered. Braun immediately ceased his cackles and grabbed a water pail to make a trip to the well. I moved to scoop up the last pile of the stall, but Corporal Levi stopped me before I could even stick the fork into it. "You come with me."

I followed him out of the stable. Once out of sight of the others he whipped out a yellowed piece of paper and showed it to me.

"The princess from Wall Sina has gone missing," he stated bluntly. I swallowed.

"So I've heard, sir."

"Do you know anything about it? You are from the capitol." I swallowed again. Suddenly my mouth was incredibly dry.

"No, sir," I lied.

"Not even what she looks like?" he prodded in his usual low monotone.

"No, sir." He rolled up the flyer and stuck it through a strap on his 3DMG harness, then told me to get back to my stable duty. But before he could completely turn away, I caught his attention.

"Sir," I began. He looked back at me with hard grey eyes. He was listening. "I know what you and the whole squadron are thinking, but I don't think it's true. The castle is too well-fortified for the princess to be kidnapped."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, eying me suspiciously.

"And, sir." He didn't bother turning around this time. "I know you may have your suspicions, but I'm not the princess. I'm just saying-"

"I'll keep that in mind," he repeated and began walking back to the castle. "Get back to work."

I let out a sigh of relief and slumped against the entryway, threading a hand through my asymmetrical. The Corporal may have been harsh but he wasn't the least bit stupid; on the contrary, he was rather cold and calculating, never leaving one detail unexamined. That's why he was a threat. I couldn't let myself get too close to him. Not that remaining unattached would be difficult. He did nearly drown me the first day of training.

_Asshole._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Levi's POV

I'd had my suspicions about her, but they were totally demolished when she told me that she wasn't the princess. I didn't know why (maybe it was the bluntness for which she always got in trouble) but I trusted her, probably more than I should have. Another reason why she couldn't be the princess was her personality; the royal life would not shape a woman like Andi. She was too tough, headstrong, willful, rough, stubborn, attractive –

_Stop it._

Presently I sat at the officers' table in the mess hall. The Cadets were laughing and talking all too loudly. I could barely hear myself think. Not that I wanted to hear myself think; I knew my thoughts would be filled with the insolent brat known only as Andi. Her insolence, her arrogance, her sarcasm, her stupid haircut and the way it –

_Fucking_ stop _it._

"So, Shorty," that unmistakable voice that could only belong to Hanji said, "how's the new recruit coming along?"

I imperceptibly gritted my teeth. Of all people, only Hanji could know exactly the topic I was most opposed to talk about and still bring it up. Though Andi was getting close –

_FUCK._

Erwin started laughing.

"She'll make an excellent soldier," he chuckled, "if Levi doesn't kill her first."

"What's he trying to kill her for?" Hanji asked with a cackle.

"Insolence," I answered and violently speared another piece of my potato.

"She's the single boldest person I've ever seen come through training," Erwin continued. "She's nearly as determined as Jeager, but what really sets her apart is she's not scared of Levi."

I stabbed my potato again.

"Is Shorty angry?" Hanji teased. I stood up from the table and grabbed my potato.

"I'm going to eat in my office," I said curtly. "I have paperwork to do."

"That's never stopped you from eating with us before," she protested, but I silenced her with a look.

"I'm going to eat in my office." I turned on my heel and left the mess hall, but not before sparing a glance to the bane of my existence.

That girl was going to kill me. Assuming I didn't kill her first.

Andi's POV

I sat at the end of the table at which Jeager and company sat. At first it was somewhat entertaining to listen to their conversations, but now it was just annoying. They were all the same, except for the one today.

"Did you hear the princess is missing? Has been for a week now," Kirstein said.

"Yeah, and that reward!"

"What I wouldn't give to marry a princess."

"Return her and you won't have to give anything."

I choked on my bite of potato. Someone clapped me on the back and I flinched.

"You okay there?" Blouse asked. I nodded. She eyed my potato enviously.

"Before you ask I am going to eat every bite of this potato," I said. Her face fell and she turned back to her friends.

"I would love to be king. I could be supreme military commander!"

"I bet you've got a lot of ideas up your sleeve for that."

"What was that, Jeager?"

"Guys, calm down."

I finished my potato and started on my roll.

"Who do you think took her?"

"Maybe the king got rid of her." Kirstein made a swift motion across his throat. "I hear he'd do anything to stay in power."

How true that was.

"Maybe it was someone who wanted ransom money. The royal family is loaded."

"Why don't we ask Andi here?" That was Kirstein's "smooth-talker" voice. It would have annoyed the shit out of me in any other situation, but it just made me choke on my food again then. Blouse clapped me on the back again.

"I think I'll pass on that," I said hoarsely as I forced the bite of bread down my throat.

"We always hog the conversation. It's very rude of us. Tell us what you think," Kirstein said. I wanted to punch him and throw up. Simultaneously.

"Well," I began delicately, "I think she might have just run away."

There were several murmurs of dissension.

"Why would she run away from being a princess? Someone at my every beck and call? Sign me up!" exclaimed Blouse.

"Just think about it," I started again. "There may be someone at your every beck and call, but there's also always someone watching you. There are structured lessons for things you may not even care about, you're forced to go to sleep at eight or nine o'clock to 'preserve your beauty,' you're only worth something if you can speak seven languages and do a proper curtsy and, by God, if you don't look good then you have absolutely no value. You're treated as an object to be displayed, yet you're kept away from anyone and everyone who might want to see you. Except suitors, of course, one of whom your parents will select as a husband for you based on wealth and popularity among the citizens of the capital." I received astonished stares from the entire table. I coughed. "But that's just my assumption. Just what I think."

The spell was broken and they all turned back to conversations about 3DMG and training. I finished my food and managed a glance at the Corporal as I placed my plate inside the window to be washed. He stood and left the hall with his potato and a noticeably (for him) agitated expression, but not before he shared a look with me. I left the hall shortly after and went down to my dungeon bedroom.

I couldn't let myself slip like that again. But it was going to be very difficult if all the Cadets talked about was the missing princess, the reward, what it's like to live in the palace – me. They had no idea what I'd had to face since my mother had married Gerard, and even before that it was hell.

No matter what happened, I couldn't allow myself to be recaptured. Being a princess sucked big hairy balls.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

One Week Later

Andi's POV

When I said I couldn't get too close to Corporal Levi, this was definitely not what I had in mind.

I had been doing absolutely fine with the 3DMG for the past two weeks, but today was the first time trying to do it with someone else in close proximity to me also flipping through the treetops. And that someone just had to be the Corporal. Our cables had hooked together and flew around us, eventually pinning us to the tree, my butt pressed dangerously close to his hips. I had my chest pressed painfully close to the tree trunk and Levi's chest pressed painfully close to my back. I wanted to die.

"Tch. Now look at the mess you've made of this," he said disinterestedly. I was in the most compromising position I'd ever been in in my life and he was disinterested!

"You're the one who shot your grappling hook into my space!"

"Snapping back at your superiors again, Cadet? Do you really want stable duty again?"

"I am snapping back at a superior officer again and I kind of do want stable duty again, sir, if we ever get out of this position."

"Tch."

I could feel every ridge and muscle, and he had a lot of them, of his chest. Although being squished against a hardwood tree was painful, it wasn't the most uncomfortable position. Because Levi's body yielded, of course.

We just hung there in silence for over an hour, my heart beating faster than I'd care to admit, him trying and failing to keep from breathing on my ear. The bark of the tree had made a pattern of intents on my cheeks and forehead as I switched the position of my head periodically. Finally, scared out of my wits, I was fed up.

"Okay, fuck it," I growled at no one in particular.

"Is that an invitation?"

"Who's the crude one now, hypocrite?" I inhaled deeply. "Just... close your eyes for a second?"

After a moment of hesitation, "Okay..." I saw he had actually closed his eyes, then I looked around for the point where the cables had twined together.

I found the point of entwinement to our right, coiled impossibly around a tree branch. If I could just get them untangled without...

"Oi, brat. Can I open my eyes anytime soon?" Levi barked.

"Just a second," I said. "And don't take that literally. Just keep them closed."

I focused all of my attention on the coiled cables and, slowly, almost imperceptibly, the top one began to move. I squinted in concentration and raised a hand to focus the energy even more. The uncoiling sped up considerably, though still going at a languid pace. Suddenly, we slid jerkily down the trunk for a few feet.

"Brace yourself," I warned the man behind me.

With one final movement the cables came untangled and we were sent falling forty feet to the ground. But before we could splat on the forest floor I felt a strong arm yank me into a hard chest and all movement stopped. Looking behind me I saw Levi, panting heavily, standing on a branch of the tree thirty feet from the ground. He had pulled me from the air and into his chest to keep me safe.

We both collapsed against the branch, him with his trademark stoic expression, me with heavy panting and a rapidly-moving chest.

"I hate freefall," I groaned between pants.

"This has been an exercise in problem-solving, Cadet," Levi stated bluntly. I whipped my head up.

"A what?"

"You've passed. I don't know how, but you've passed it." I tried to sit up but just collapsed back against the branch in exhaustion.

"You mean that this was all an exercise?" I managed. I covered my face with my hands. "You piece of shit!"

"Easy, Cadet!" a voice came from the ground. Looking down, I saw Commander Erwin grinning up at us. My heart rate accelerated to a ridiculous speed.

_Did he see what I can do?_

"I don't know how you got out of that, but you did well!"

My sight was starting to blacken around the edges. It had been too long since I'd practiced, it sucked all the energy out of me.

"Oi, brat," Levi's voice said. He sounded watery to me. "Stable duty for the rest of the week for calling me a piece of shit."

The blackness was intruding in little rivulets snaking across my vision. I was going down soon.

"Corporal," I whispered.

"Tch."

"Steady me."

The last thing I saw before blacking out was Levi reaching his hand out to catch me. The last thing I felt was the combination of rushing air and the queasiness of falling.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Andi's POV

The first thing I heard when I woke up was the voice of who I knew to be Hanji Zoe.

"So this is the new recruit Shorty's been training, eh?"

The first thing I saw when I woke up was the face of who I knew to be Hanji Zoe shoved way too far into my personal bubble.

"She's pretty cute!"

The first things I did when I woke up were scream and punch the face of whom I knew to be Hanji Zoe.

"Jesus!" I squeaked as I rolled over into a fetal position. I was in the infirmary, a single large room partitioned by several translucent curtains. I was surrounded by a swarm of tan jackets and a very bloody-nosed Hanji.

"I am so sorry, ma'am!" I said, covering my mouth in the process. "That's just my reaction!" I had thought she was crying, but she was actually laughing her ass off.

"It's fine," she said through the bold and the giggles. "Let me go get this set and I'll be right back for introductions."

Everyone else in the crowd joined in Hanji's laughter.

"That's a feisty little one, isn't she?"

"The Corporal's got his hands full with that one."

Everyone except a certain silent Corporal standing in the corner of the infirmary. I groaned and sat up.

"Everyone out!" commanded the nurse. "She'll go into shock if she has too much stress."

There was a chorus of disappointed grumblings as the crowd slowly funneled through the door and left the infirmary. Finally there was only Hanji, the nurse, Levi, and I left in the room. The door clicked shut and I dropped my head into my hands, resting my elbows on my knees.

"Will I really go into shock?" I asked the nurse. She giggled.

"No. I just saw the look on your face and figured you needed some space." I smiled appreciatively.

"What happened exactly?" I asked. It was a stupid question, really. I knew exactly what had happened: I had used my abilities, like an underdeveloped muscle, and used up all my energy.

"You passed out from exhaustion and nearly fell out of a thirty foot tree! Lucky for you Lance Corporal Levi was there to save the day." I had to catch a growl in my throat at the dusting of pink which appeared on her cheeks as she said the last sentence.

"How long was I out for?" I asked.

"About two hours," she replied. "You're going to need lots of rest to get your strength back up. I don't know what you did back there, but don't do it again for a while. You've got to develop whatever muscles you used before such prolonged use." She walked away, presumably to help Hanji with her nose. As soon as the nurse was out of sight I attempted to walk, but my legs tried to collapse under me. I pushed myself back on the bed.

"Nope," I grunted. "Not today."

"Here."

"What-"

I suddenly found myself lifted by a pair of strong arms. Levi had pulled me from the cot and into his chest.

"You're too weak to walk," he explained. I held back a blush.

"You go, Shorty!" crowed Hanji from another section of the infirmary. Too weak to flip her off, I settled for the next best thing.

"Fuck off." We said it in unison.

"You learn quickly," Levi said humorlessly. I laughed a bit.

"Corporal," I murmured, "I think I'm about to fall asleep."

"Go ahead," he replied. "No one's stopping you."

My vision went blurry and I closed my eyes, the last thought in my head before slipping into unconsciousness being how surprisingly warm the Corporal felt.

Levi's POV

I got plenty of amused stares as I carried the brat back to the dungeon. Even Erwin had a satisfied grin playing across his face as he passed me in the hallway.

"Not a fucking word," I said lowly. The Commander laughed.

When I finally deposited the girl in her bed she was fast asleep, mumbling something incoherent about going home. I had a strange impulse to brush back a stray piece of hair which had fallen across her forehead, but, as usual, I contained myself.

"Rest up, brat," I murmured as I left the room, and I was surprised to find that my words held no harshness at all.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Two Weeks Later

Levi's POV

She was coming along quickly, more quickly than almost any Cadet I had previously trained. She was right when she said it was me who had messed up her training session that day, and that made her even more impressive; she was not only able to tell when someone had made a miniscule mistake in midair, but she was gutsy enough to tell her superior of that mistake.

But that wasn't what was on my mind as I sat alone in my office. What was really on my mind was that one strand of hair that I hadn't swept from her forehead when I put her to bed. It was a stupid detail. I had no idea how I remembered something that insignificant.

Suddenly the door to my office swung open.

"No need to knock," I said without looking up from my paperwork. There was only one person who would barge in on me uninvited.

"So how is Corporal Shorty this fine afternoon?" asked Hanji.

"Go away, Shitty Glasses."

"Nope." She sat on my desk. "I came to ask you a question."

"What is it?"

"What are your feelings toward Andi?" I dropped my pen. "It looks like I have my answer!" she cackled.

"Go away, Shitty Glasses," I said. "I didn't give you an answer."

"I've never seen you so frazzled about anyone else before. Remember when you had to eat your dinner in here last week because we were all talking about her. And just now you dropped your pen." I leaned my head against the heel of my hand.

"Go away." She just chuckled and ruffled my hair like a child's.

"You're turning into an old man before you reach thirty. See you later." She paused at the door. "By the way, there are some people here who wanted to talk to you. They said they're from the Military Police." I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I did.

"This was all a pretense," I muttered as I brushed past her. She laughed again.

The men were waiting by the castle's main entrance, dressed in the uniform of the Military Police. I stifled a cringe as one came up to me and shook my hand and saluted.

"Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman," he said. I nodded. "I am Specialist David Cunningham with the Military Police. I am with the branch of the police that protects the palace and royal family. We would like to ask you a few questions about the missing princess."

Later that evening I stormed down to the dungeon and found Andi with a notebook and pen in her hands. My heart thumped painfully against my chest, but I pushed it down and continued on my mission. I grabbed her by the collar and made her face me.

"Are you the missing princess?" I growled.

"What?" she squeaked.

"Are. You. The. Princess?" She locked her jaw. "Why are there two Sergeants and a Specialist from the Military Police here to investigate a new recruit?" I could see her throat move in a gulp.

"I trust you, brat," I blurted out. "I trust you more than I trust most others in this place, but those men up there just gave me a pretty damn good description of the princess and it matched you exactly. So I don't know what exactly to think."

Her eyes were wide as dinner plates. I understood why; I hadn't lost it in front of anyone in over five years, much less ever in front of this brat. I ran a hand through my hair and took a deep breath.

"Just tell me that you aren't the princess and I'll believe you. Just... tell me the truth."

"I'm not the princess, sir," she said finally.

"Okay then, brat." I said in response. "As you were."

When I told the men that it wasn't her their shoulders slumped dramatically.

"We believe you, sir," the Specialist said, "but would you mind if we took a look to be safe?"

"Yes, I would mind." It came out much harsher than I had intended. Hanji's head whipped around to stare at me.

"Then would you happen to have an extra room in which my comrades and I could spend the night? We have traveled all the way from the palace and our horses are exhausted."

It took less than two hours by horse to get from the palace to HQ, and horses were known for their endurance. They could race across the countryside for hours on end; a two-hour jog wouldn't have exhausted any of them. I should have known something was up.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Andi's POV

After the incident with the cables I had been practicing with my abilities as often as possible. This often led to visits to the infirmary, and Levi was there almost immediately after I woke up to carry me to the dungeon. Hanji had actually started a betting pool as to when he would show up after I woke up. But I hadn't been to the infirmary in three days now, and my powers were strong enough to snap thick tree limbs from a distance of about ten feet.

I was getting stronger. A lot stronger.

I levitated my notebook in front of me for the final time of the night before getting out of bed to go to dinner. But before I could make it to the mess hall I heard the delicate tinkling of an out of tune piano.

_They have a piano in HQ?_

I followed the haunting melody to the right of the mess hall, down several dim torch-lit hallways and straight to a yellow cobble-stoned wall framing an arched wooden door. I pressed my ear against it.

It sounded like... nighttime.

Before I could hear more the music stopped and the door was yanked forcefully away from my ear. I stumbled directly into the chest of, who would have thought, Levi. I jumped back quickly into a salute.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I just haven't heard a piano in a long time and-" He silenced me with a look then sighed. "Were you playing it or was it a record, sir?"

"I was playing until you decided to snoop," she said bluntly. I barely stopped myself from turning beet red.

"I'm still sorry about that, sir."

He sighed again. "At ease." I dropped my salute. "Did you really want to hear me play?" I nodded once and he stepped aside, motioning for me to enter. He shut the door.

Inside the room was small, perhaps a large closet in the past, filled to the brim with only an upright piano and a bookshelf. Levi came back into the room and, for the first time, I realized that I was shorter than him. He led me to sit beside him on the piano bench where he began to play.

"Do you know Chopin?" he asked.

"Not personally," I quipped before I could think. He glared at me again and I turned away to stifle a laugh. "Yes, I've heard Chopin."

"Then you'll know this," he said as his fingers began to dance over the keys in Chopin's "Revolutionary" Etude.

I had heard many famous pianists as they performed for the king and queen, and I had heard many renditions of this very piece, but Levi's was by far the best. Maybe it was the acoustics of the room or the tinny piano or Levi's playing; but I think now that the reasons the music sounded so good were that the moon- and candle-lights hit the cracked ivory keys just so, that there was a slight breeze through the open window, and, just maybe, that I was sitting just a bit too close to him. I clapped quietly when he was finished and he gave a tiny bow. I laughed.

"Do you play?" he asked. I was a bit taken aback at the question. I had never heard him ask anything about my personal life outside that hostile night in the forest. I nodded.

"Yeah," I said. He stood and motioned for me to take his place in the middle of the piano.

"Play for me," he said. I smiled slightly and scooted down the bench. He took my place. "Do you need music?" I shook my head.

"I actually can't read music," I confessed. "My family hired someone to teach me how, but after six months I still couldn't do it."

"Then how do you play?" I smiled at his confused eyes.

"I improvise," I answered and began to play.

The keys were jagged and cracked, some even with their ivory plates missing, but the smoothness of the other keys and the delicate, lacy sounds they made me feel like I was at home.

When I was finished there was no applause. I looked back to Levi to find him blatantly staring at me.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked him.

"That was... incredible, I won't lie," he answered. "And you have a piece of hair in your face that annoys me."

"Then why don't you move it back?" I said.

Slowly, like he thought I might break, he reached a shaky hand out to sweep the hair from my eyes and tuck it behind my ear, looking me in the eyes the whole time.

"Why are you staring at me now?" I whispered.

"I don't know."

He still hadn't moved his hand from my face; I was hyperaware of his thumb tracing odd patterns on my jaw and just how close we really were. His face couldn't have been over two inches away from mine and I could feel his breath on my lips. It was intoxicating.

He looked pained, like he was pondering something, but then a new resolve seemed to harden his face.

_"Fuck it,"_ he said before leaning down and kissing me.

For a moment it was pure bliss, having his lips melding smoothly with mine, like ours were made for each other. I wound my fingers into his hair and he let out a delicious moan into my mouth.

Then the door slammed open and there was chaos.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Andi's POV

The door opened and slammed into the wall beside it. In the doorway stood members of the palace guard, a branch of the Military Police which guarded the palace and the royal family. I recognized them all as some of Gerard's henchmen. They all wore malicious grins, and that was when I knew I wasn't getting out of this place unscathed.

"What?" snapped Levi as he whipped his head to examine our interrupters.

"Princess?" Specialist Cunningham asked. I immediately slapped my hands over my face in the hopes of postponing my identification for just a little longer. "Princess Andrea?" he called out with a lilt. He was mocking me.

"Come on out sweetheart," Sergeant Jules cooed sarcastically. A chorus of evil chuckles resonated throughout the small room.

"The princess isn't here," Levi said firmly. "I already told you."

"Then who's the young lady over with the lopsided hair?" Cunningham mocked. I couldn't take the lies anymore, couldn't take them taunting him and belittling him, so I removed my hands from over my face and stood.

I saluted.

"Cadet Andi, Survey Corps," I said slowly, a smirk slowly crossing my face. "Sir."

A hand whipped across my face. Specialist Cunningham stood before me, infuriated. He held my cut ribbon-wrapped hair in his fist, the hair I had thrown into the well when I escaped the palace.

"Oh God," I whispered. Cunningham suddenly yanked my head back and held the severed hair up to my own. It matched perfectly it color and cut-line.

One of the Sergeants sneered from behind me and fingered the ribbon tying off the severed hair.

"Only the finest silk ribbons for the princess," he mocked. I bit back tears as Levi looked at me with that same stoic look I had worked so hard to break down. I had betrayed him. I had lied to him.

"Just leave," I told him quietly. "Leave before they get you, too."

"They're not going to get me, brat," he spat at me. He was unable to keep the hurt from his voice.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Cunningham said as he pulled something from his jacket. A silver chrome revolver bearing the royal seal gleamed in his hand.

"Those are illegal," Levi said. "This whole thing is illegal. Don't think I won't report this."

"Do you think they care," I spat back, more at Cunningham than at him. I felt the cold muzzle of the gun rest against my temple for what must have been the hundredth time in my life. But, this time, I was terrified. Gerard would stop at nothing to keep his position, and saying the princess was killed by her kidnappers would be the perfect cover-up. Not only that, but the nation would be outraged, banding together as one to try and weed out the killers. Gerard would be unstoppable.

"Go ahead and kill me," I egged him on. "I'm not going back to the palace."

"I figured you would say that, and I was having a hard time coming up with a way to respond," Cunningham said. "Until now."

He turned the gun on Levi.

"Don't even think about it, Cunningham," I warned. I could feel the tell-tale embers of power fanning to life in the pit of my stomach.

"Ah!" he and his cronies laughed. "It seems she does have a weak spot after all! And the king made it sound like it was going to be difficult."

"Not him," I begged. "Kill me. Kill me instead. Gerard would love it."

"Oh, Gerard fully plans to have you killed," he said. "But he wants to see you suffer first." I shuddered.

"Then why does he need to die!?"

"Oh, he doesn't need to die. Not if you just come with us like a good little girl. Of course, we'll have to bring Shorty here with us." I felt my fists clench again as an electric current crackled at the tips of my fingers.

"Leave him out of this, shithead. I'm warning you."

"Oh, she's getting feisty! I wonder just how feisty she'd be in bed."

"Didn't you already try her out, David?" one of the Sergeants asked. I felt like I was about to cry.

"Not yet, but I'm sure the king would oblige me. I mean he does it with her all the-"

Before he could finish his sentence the gun was in my hand and pressed against his forehead.

"Leave," I growled. "Leave right now and I'll spare you. Otherwise you're nothing but a greasy spot on the opposite wall."

Cunningham's cronies pulled guns of their own from their jackets.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Princess." A revolver rammed into the back of my skull and I was out before I could move.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Levi's POV

I woke up in a dungeon that made HQ's look like the palace itself. I was lying on a cot in the corner of the room. Looking around I saw Andi repeatedly kicking at the dungeon door.

"Andi!" I called. She didn't turn around.

"Sir!" she grunted while planting another kick at the door's hinges. She screamed in frustration and punched the wood. "Fuck!"

I got out of the bed, strode to the door, and grabbed her wrist before she could swing again.

"Stop it. It won't help." She wrenched her hand from my grip and jabbed at the hinges again.

"You don't know what I'm trying to do!"

"Whatever it is just stop it!" I grabbed her wrist and brought her bruised and bleeding knuckles to my face. "You're just going to hurt yourself."

"Maybe that was the point."

She broke free from my grasp and went to sit in a corner unoccupied by the cot. Sliding down the wall, she put her head in her hands. After some contemplation I went to sit beside her.

"Why do you even care?" she asked. "I lied to you. Repeatedly."

"Oh, I'm still ready and willing to kick your ass for that," I said. "I just see no point in wasting my energy."

"It's a pretty good stress reliever, believe me."

"Tch."

We sat in silence for a while, simply sitting in the silence of what appeared to be night. The small window at the top of the dungeon showed the moon and a smattering of stars, the sky shrouding the mossy cobblestones in a coat of blue light.

After some time I spoke again.

"Why did you run away?" It was her turn to scoff.

"I'm surprised it took you this long to ask," she said. "I ran away because the king and queen were forcing me into an arranged marriage."

"Isn't that just what you do as a princess?"

"It's not what _I_ do as a princess. I'd prefer to be married to the Survey Corps, after my time there."

"And to think I thought it might have been because you didn't get the right dress color for the ball," I mocked. I was exhausted. My sarcasm was coming out.

"I don't go to balls," she said after a moment. "I'm normally thrown down here for their duration. My mother thinks that I'm upstairs in my room."

I faced her.

"Why would they throw the princess in the dungeon?" I asked.

"It's one of the king's many pleasures in life. He's a fucking sadist."

I paused before saying anything more.

"Is that what Cunningham was talking about when he said you two-"

"Yeah."

"That's disgusting." She turned to me.

"You think it's..." she trailed. "You think it's disgusting?" Her voice was small, like a child's.

"Forcing yourself on another person is revolting, yes." That was when she started to cry.

I never thought I would see that girl cry. The same girl who nearly beat me that night in the forest, who trained for nearly six hours without stopping, who played the piano so beautifully, was the toughest person I had ever met. Whatever the king did to her in bed must have been truly horrible to break her.

"Nobody's ever told me that before," she whispered. It broke whatever heart I had. I pulled her into me and let her cry into my chest while I stroked her hair.


End file.
